Executive Board

The executive board is the driving force of UNAVSA with task planning, organizing, and approving operations. The board manages the operations in accordance to the organization’s missions and values, as well as reviews short and long-term plans to sustain the structure of UNAVSA. Each executive member serves a two-year term and is elected by attendees at the annual conference. Read more below on the seventh UNAVSA Executive Board:

Thoa Kim Nguyen

President

Thoa Kim Nguyen currently resides and works in the DC/NOVA area as a Marketing Consultant and Business Strategist at Plexus Consulting. She was born and raised in the great state of Colorado. Curious and intrigued by the business world, she pursued a business program with the dreams of owning her own company. She graduated from Johnson & Wales University Business School with Magna Cum Laude honors in both degrees – a­ Bachelors in Marketing and an MBA in Business Management.

Seeing the importance of serving her Vietnamese community, she continually dedicates time to various projects and organizations. Her past positions include UNAVSA­-6 Entertainment Staff, Southwest Regional Representative, UNAVSA­-7 Marketing Director, UNAVSA­-8 Co­-Executive Director, Co­-CPP Campaign Director, and Secretary of the 2010 – 2012 UNAVSA Executive Board. Thoa also served as the President of the Southwest Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (SWUVSA) in 2012, an organization she co­founded alongside her brother, Phong Kim Nguyen.

In her spare time, she enjoys dipping in the creative side by growing her side business as a hair and makeup artist, watching documentaries, singing, and petting cats.

Jennifer Nghe

Internal Vice President

Jennifer Nghe was born and raised in Nanuet, New York. She began her involvement in the Vietnamese community in 2011 through the Vietnamese Student Association at Boston University (BUVSA), where she studied Computer Science. Inspired by the family­-like community of VSA, she continued on to hold leadership positions within BUVSA, New England IVSA, and UNAVSA. Her more notable leadership experiences include the 2013­ – 2014 Co­-President of NEIVSA, 2014­ – 2015 President of BUVSA, 2014­ – 2015 New England Co­CORR, UNAVSA­-12 Registration Director, and UNAVSA­-13 Executive Director. As the incoming Internal Vice-President, she hopes to increase interactions between UNAVSA and its regional partners by developing its constituents, starting at the local level.

Aside from VSA, Jenn enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, and baking (especially with apples).

Jenni Huynh

External Vice President

Jenni Huynh grew up in Utah and started her VSA journey at the University of Houston in 2009. She is now currently finishing her last year of her Master’s in Architecture at the University of Oregon. Aiming to combine her love of the Vietnamese community and architecture, she is aspiring to design sustainable housing in lesser developed countries, starting in Vietnam. For Jenni, the most important aspect of UNAVSA’s mission statement is empowerment. She understands and completely supports the notion that UNAVSA empowers the current leaders within our Vietnamese community to propel our love of culture, thirst for leadership, and positive progression of Vietnamese rights in Northern America and, ultimately, the world. Dumbledore stated, “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided,” and she will do her best to keep UNAVSA united. In her free time, Jenni loves to hike, read Harry Potter, and go on adventures (especially ones including architecture where she gets to talk about the coolest design facts).

Phuc Phan

Treasurer

Phuc Phan was born in Saigon, Vietnam and was raised in Northern California. Currently he’s a Office Manager at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). He is an alumnus of Emory University where he began his involvement with the Vietnamese community in Atlanta, Georgia and the Southeast region. From there, he has continued to serve his community through various leadership roles, including President of UVSA Georgia, UNAVSA Southeast CoRR, Conference Programming Director for UNAVSA-12, and Conference Associate Co­-Director for UNAVSA­-13. He hopes to be able to preserve and share his passion for the Vietnamese culture and language among his peers. His favorite past time activities include eating at buffets and playing all types of games. He also has a strong love for Pusheen.

Ly Nguyen

Secretary

Ly Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 3. She was raised in the Emerald City of Seattle and graduated from Seattle University as a Magna Cum Laude in Computer Science & Software Engineering. Currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Ly is a Software Development Engineer for Amazon Web Services by day and an amateur foodie by night.

Ly found her love for the Vietnamese culture and commitment to leadership with Seattle University VSA. She was involved in various roles with the organization throughout college, led Northwest VSA Leadership Summit after graduation, and went on to UNAVSA as one of two Conference Executive Interns and Collective Philanthropy Project – Selection Committee staff.

As UNAVSA Secretary, her interests lie in preserving the Vietnamese community in North America. She hopes to strengthen engagement, mentorship, and education initiatives.

2006-2008

2005-2006

President: Tony Ngo

2004-2005

President: Quoc Phan

About UNAVSA

UNAVSA is dedicated to empowering the next generation of Vietnamese leaders with a passion for service, propensity for leadership, and self-awareness with the intent of advocating for progress in the North American Vietnamese community.